The ITC independent investigates patent dispute claims. And as most mobile device makers -- including Apple -- manufacture their products exclusively in China, its panel of judges essentially have as much power as a federal judge and jury, as they can order a blockade on imports -- an effective sales ban -- if they feel infringement occurred. That's precisely the route Apple used to temporarily stifle the sales of Android phonemaker HTC Corp. (TPE:2498) in May.

Apple may be treading on dangerous ground, given how broad Motorola's patent is. Its best bet may be to try to find cracks in certain Motorola claims and then try to challenge the patent on the grounds of invalid claims construction. Otherwise it could find almost of its products -- the iPhone, most iPods, the iPhone, the iPad, and Mac computers -- banned from import into the U.S.

II. Vague, Yes, But Motorola Could Win

To be clear Google's patent is almost laughably ubiquitous -- it's basically claiming that any messaging client that uses Wi-Fi or cellular data connections is in violation of its patent.

For example Apple's big win against Samsung in part came thanks to a pair of patents that were equally ridiculous, if not more so. One patent was a design patent covering a broad array of smartphone shapes (rectangular with curved edges), while a second was the so-called "rubber-band" patent, which granted Apple exclusively rights to have its graphical user interface mirror a kind of commonly occurring natural phenomena (a transient effect). That would be like if you patented making a graphical element move in a spiral.

Nearly all of Motorola's current claims is built around broad messaging patents.
[Image Source: Scribd]

If you see a central theme it's because there is one -- basically Motorola has patents that cover virtually every single aspect of wireless messaging and it's looking to use that non-FRAND portfolio to punish Apple.

If Apple can win on such confounding patents, it would not surprise for Google-Motorola to potentially score a similar logic-defying win, assuming luck is in their favor at their day in court.

The ITC has voted to investigate the claim against Apple, so the filings are now on the public record and win, lose, or draw Motorola will at least have its day in court.

Exactly. If Google can win some lawsuits at least this would force Apple into some sort of cross-licensing deal where everyone can compete with their products instead of having their products banned. Apple started this patent-trolling war, that's why there's no sympathy for them.